This invention relates generally to poultry flock maintenance systems and the like, and more particularly concerns a maintenance system which moves cages and caged birds past relatively stationary subsystems for feeding and watering the hens, for removing eggs and manure or droppings, and for providing other bird services.
In modern poultry operations, relatively sophisticated equipment permits large flocks of poultry to be raised to and maintained at high levels of performance with relatively small amounts of hand labor and husbandman attention. To the extent that flock maintenance equipment costs and raw material costs can be minimized, successful, profitable poultry business is encouraged. It has been found that flock efficiency can be maximized in many cases by caging the fowl and restricting the movement of each bird to a relatively small area.
However, when fowl are caged, provision must be made for providing bird access to feed and water supplies. Manure removal must also be provided for. For some flocks, egg removal and collection subsystems are required. Artificial insemination and other bird care services may be necessary in other operations.
In some poultry businesses, it is desirable to care for several disparate flocks. For example, the husbandman may wish to maintain two laying flocks and one breeding flock simultaneously. Poultry maintenance equipment should be able to accomplish these tasks at minimum cost. If necessary, it should be possible to install egg collecting equipment at points to service some poultry cages which contain laying hens; other cages of the system can contain broiling poultry and may not require identical egg removal equipment.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide apparatus for maintaining large numbers of birds in a way which maximizes flock performance and minimizes equipment costs.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide apparatus which closely governs and controls the amount of feed and water made available to each member of the laying flock, thereby encouraging uniformly high performance or efficiency from each hen. A related object of the invention is to provide apparatus which maintains the flock at maximum productivity with minimum effort and attention on the part of the poultry husbandman.
Another object is to provide apparatus which controls the times during which each bird has access to the feed and the water.
A further object is to provide apparatus for maintaining a poultry flock wherein subsystem apparatus for feed delivery, water delivery, egg collection, and manure or droppings removal and the like can be simplified and the costs of such subsystem apparatus and components minimized. A related object is to simplify the job of populating and depopulating the poultry house.
Yet another object is to provide apparatus for compactly maintaining a relatively large flock in a rectilinear poultry house. A related object is to provide such apparatus in a form which takes maximum advantage of the poultry house internal space shape. Another related object is to provide such apparatus in a form permitting easy service and adjustment.
A still further object is to provide an equipment system which can be designed or arranged to provide relatively customized care for different types of poultry in different areas of a single poultry house.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide flock maintenance equipment which will accomplish the foregoing objectives at minimal costs, yet which is reliable and rugged in operation.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings. Throughout the description, like reference numerals refer to like parts.